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Utah Skiers Claim Canadian Powder 8 Championship

Monday, February 14, 2011 - Despite heavy snowfall and limited visibility, a pair of American skiers from Alta, Utah finessed their way down the back bowls of Whitehorn 2, Boomerang and Brownshirt runs to win this year’s Canadian Powder 8 Championship held at the Lake Louise Ski Area on Saturday, February 12.

American skiers Tom Riggins, 48 and partner Tom Truss, 47, claimed top spot as they narrowly won a split decision from local favourites, and last year’s champions, Tom Fry and Brian Goulding. Third-place honours went to the team of Jimmy Pauw and Matt Godwin.

A total of seventeen teams of two skiers competed in this year’s Powder 8 championship in near blizzard conditions as more than 25 cms of fresh snow blanketed Lake Louise during the 24 hour period. With the snow falling hard, judges had a difficult time marking their scorecards as they were searching for synchronization, dynamic/aggressive skiing and distance between team members. The tracks left behind were also judged on roundness, symmetry and fall line.

Riggins and Truss will have more opportunity to practice their Powder 8 turns as they claimed the first-place prize of a 2 night heli-ski vacation from Canadian Mountain Holidays. Runner-ups Fry and Goulding won a 1-night heli-ski holiday from Canadian Mountain Holidays while Pauw and Godwin won a one night stay at Skoki Lodge.

“We’ve been skiing Powder 8 competitions for years, so when we saw a heli-ski trip as the top prize at this competition, we decided to enter,” said Riggins. “We consider ourselves to be very lucky to be able to come here and compete. Lake Louise is a great ski resort but we didn’t get to see a whole lot of it because it was snowing so hard”.